"I'll remember."
- Gino Soccio

Ladies and Gentlemen: the curtain has fallen, the main output has been enabled, and now it’s time for all of these people to bounce. At this very moment the Toronto artists whose work hung on the Academy walls are dismantling the evidence. The control room and recording room where Tony Allen jammed with Steve Spacek, Mauricio F., Theo Parrish, Ben Lamar, Ron Trent, Rio Hemopo and Paul Movahedi just a few days ago, will luckily not be demolished but will continue to be home to private music workshops, under the auspices of a record label.

The last day of the Toronto Academy began with a group listening session of material created over the last 2 weeks, and had Theo Parrish taking notes on tracks he needed to “acquire” from participants later.

Didem Suzen dropped two tracks, one of which (titled Something’s Gone) began a bit Bruk, then as the melody rose, everything came up roses (and Techno). If it’s true that Didem’s only been making music for seven months, we can only guess, that she has been making Ableton her friend for 15 hours a day. No sleep in Istanbul. (Theo: “Can I have a copy of that?”)

Contributions followed from Ilari (the sound of ripping tinfoil ground down by monster teeth), Chiara (her first ever track, a blend of Steve Bicknell-esque propulsion and Casco-type romanticism in Ableton Live), and Aleisha (dramatic string samples and a vocal triggered into a Bollywood warble primed for the Drum ‘n’ Bass remix). Akiko’s underwater super-minimal negative-space blockbuster got an “Abfahrt” air punch out of Torsten Schmidt, and Corben’s skittering beat with trumpet c/o Ben and 60’s psychedelia had Samiyam deadpanning “That’s quite a departure from Raccoon Pop.”

 





Next came a remix workshop from none other than Planet E impresario Carl Craig, and a plate of rare beef followed by sweet potato pie with strawberries & cream, before the last dance. The night saw Didem Suzen, my man Mark and my man Prrrrrritchard, Marco Passarani and Gerd Janson burning down the after-everything-parties. Kieran Hebden aka Fourtet and Ge-ology were seen working the floor, as was the man in the hat John Kong, especially when Steve Spacek treated us to a beautiful adlibbed vocal line over the top of E-Dancer… Lubor and Jim showed all the non-Canucks how to party, Torsten brought everyone to their knees, Celine Wong & Jason Richards performed mutual damage control, and things got very literal when Gerd dropped Back to Life. As the first bars struck, Rebeca aka Reka from Spain transformed into a singing, strutting dancefloor diva, in contrast to her usually more minimal approach.

We asked Gordon aka G-Nice, one of the security team, what he’ll remember about the Academy. “Well,” he pondered, “It would be all the people. And all the things that I learned.” And what did Gordon learn? “Music brings people together, even when they come from so many different backgrounds.” An adage which might not be applicable as often as we would hope (ever tried DJing at a wedding reception? In a pink dress?), but which definitely rang true, as participants, lecturers and team shared many a sleep-deprived sound file in this giant Canadian city.

Of course, the music won’t stop. And we sincerely hope, that everyone who attended will have taken away, not just nice memories, but a perspective or two that inspired them, and a sense that even if the daily grind doesn’t feel like your cuppa, there’re enough reasons, stupid jokes, beats and people out there, to help push through. Maybe even a little bit of magic, once in a while.

Here’s an indigestion tablet, for the plane. As good as it might taste, that jerk chicken, burrito and General Tso chicken combo doesn’t make the best in-flight entertainment. Good-bye Toronto, and thanks for letting us come to the party.